


Wings of Free!dom

by bimmykimmy



Category: Free!, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Goofy - Freeform, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-21
Updated: 2014-08-21
Packaged: 2018-02-14 02:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2174232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bimmykimmy/pseuds/bimmykimmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean is deathly afraid of the water. Reiner, Bertoldt, and Marco are out on a limb now, hoping to help Jean overcome this fear. Bertoldt finds an ad in the paper, and it all starts there...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings of Free!dom

**Author's Note:**

> Purely a self indulgent fanfiction. I have no idea where it's going, what it's doing, and if I will continue. ENJOY!

“It hates me. I’ve come to that conclusion; through scientific method and everything.” Jean folds his arms across his chest, looking very much like a stubborn child. He glares down at the rippling water as it sloshes up against the tiled sides of the pool. Its constant waves and movement unnerves him; makes him shiver each time some rowdy kid cannonballs into it. The sounds echo off the high ceiling, cancelling out any coherency if someone tried to talk to another across the way. Jean flinches when two kids speed past him. One knocks into him ever so slightly which jolts him forward.

“Watch it, punk!” Jean shouts in the boy’s direction, but it falls on deaf ears as the boy leaps high into the air, pulls his knee into his chest, and splashes into the depths of that lukewarm atrocity. Jean lifts his lip in disgust. He can’t even _begin_ to imagine how much pee is in there.

“Jean, it’s not that bad,” Marco regains Jean’s attention. He’s standing in the water looking up at his friend with a calm, patient smile. “Look, I can stand here, so you can too! Just come sit on the edge and slide in.”

Jean doesn’t let that smile get to him. There is no telling what monstrosities are lurking in that water. He locks his heels together and shakes his head. “No way, nope. There is nothing in this world that could get me in that nasty cesspool of human germs.”

Marco rolls his eyes and moves closer to the edge. “You’re always so dramatic,” he says as he lifts himself out of the water. It drips off of him and pools around his butt as he turns and sits on the edge. He kicks his legs in the water and leans back on his hands. “You’re never gonna get over your fear if you keep this attitude up.”

Jean scrunches his expression into another immature pout, leans down, and shoves Marco into the pool. When Marco surfaces again, Jean is already walking away towards the locker room. He watches him dodge another pair of children and then leave.

“Another failure, Marco,” he says to himself just before taking a few more laps in the pool.

 

~~~~~

 

The three sit at Bertoldt’s kitchen table, hands folded in front of their mouths and eyes squinting. No one says anything for quite some time; letting only the sounds of (begrudgingly) catchy pop music act as their dialogue. Summer break is already almost over, and Reiner, Bertoldt, and Marco have yet to fulfill their number one goal. Get Jean to swim.

Sure, there is no real rhyme or reason to this goal. It had been something they just decided to do. Reiner claims it’s because they are missing out on so many “sweet-ass chicken fights” in Connie’s pool.

“How about this?” Bertoldt’s voice finally breaks the silence. Opened in front of him is a newspaper and his finger points down at a small ad. It’s barely noticeable, with tiny font and just a small clipart. “Iwatobi Swim Club…Says here that it gives affordable lessons on weekdays; after school hours.”

Marco leans over and peers at the newspaper. His brow furrows a bit as he reads. “That’s a rather young minimum age limit…”

“We can call to see if they’d make an exception?” Bertoldt suggests. He then points to another bullet point; his finger smudging the ink as he does. “Look! It says ‘call ahead for accommodations.’ Jean’s an accommodation, right?”

Reiner doesn’t add to the conversation, only tilts his head back and lets out a robust laugh.

Marco picks up the newspaper and holds it closer to his face. Chewing on his lip, he rereads the advertisement over and over, and then one more time for good measure. He’s actually heard of this swim club before. Just years back it was a fairly popular place before it went bankrupt and shut down. It was about to be demolished before it was bought out by a local resident. Now that it’s reopened, business seems to be booming.

With a sigh, Marco sits back in his seat and looks up at the ceiling. He knows how hard a time Jean is having with swimming; being his best friend kind of grants him the honor of being at the receiving end of rants. So, the freckled brunette has been dying to aid him in overcoming this fear. There’s just something in Jean’s eyes, some glimmer of desperation, when he talks about swimming. And that, well, that is just something that stabs Marco in the chest. He made it his sole duty this summer to get Jean to swim; for probably selfish reasons. Selfish because of Marco’s pure, unadulterated crush on the mop-headed dork is what his main driving force is.

“Do you think it’ll help?” Marco he asks his friends.

Reiner is leaning back on the hind legs of his chair, arms folded across his chest. “He’d at least get someone who knows what the hell they’re talking about to teach him if he goes there.”

Bertoldt, not looking away from Marco, slaps Reiner in the boob and says, “You’ve tried everything haven’t you? Maybe it’s time to hand it off to someone who knows a bit more?”

“Ow! Hey, I’m _sensitive_ there!” Reiner protests, but it is in vain. The two brunettes are already hunched over the newspaper again; studying its very few words as if new ones would pop up with answers. He shrugs, leans back farther on the back legs of his chair, and closes his eyes. He doesn't care that they're ignoring him. He's too cool for their conversation anyways--he'll show them, how cool he can be with his chair all leaning back and stuff.

Marco has indeed tried everything. Bribery, threats (mild ones, of course), games, and even role play. Nothing seems to coax Jean into the water and stay there—though, the role play idea sort of got out of hand before they could even get into Connie’s pool. They have Reiner to blame for that one. He went all out and painted his entire torso; half red and half white. He “attacked” Jean’s troops before they had “to cross the river” to get to safety. The two hotheads ended up pelting each other with water balloons for the next half hour.

“Okay,” Marco nods and smiles. He turns towards Bertoldt and lifts his shoulders confidently, “Okay! Yeah, this _will_ be good. It’s a little bit out of town, so we won’t run into Eren again.” Marco sighs at the memory.

“He really hasn’t forgiven him yet?” Bertoldt asks while folding creases around the border of the ad.

Marco shrugs, “It _was_ Jean’s favorite sleeping bag, what do you expect?”

“It was 10 years ago…”

Marco waves a hand in front of his face, “Regardless! This Iwatobi place is my last hope…”

Bertoldt makes a noise of assent and tears out the ad, handing it to Marco. “May the force be with you.”

“That’s Obi Wan, not Iwatobi.”

Before Bertoldt can make a sassy (and nerdy) rebuttal, Reiner lets out a sharp yelp and falls backwards onto the kitchen floor. The two still sitting lean over and blink at Reiner. He lays there with his arms out to either side.

He squints his eyes at the ceiling and nods for a moment, “Yeah, the chair is broken.”

 

~~~~~

 

Makoto’s never been summoned to the front desk for a phone call before. His students all moan and whine in protest when he says he’ll be handing them over to Tanaka.

He slips on some sandals and makes his way to the front receptionist; bowing slightly in greeting as she hands him the phone.

“Tachibana speaking,” he says into the receiver.

“Ah, uh, hi!” The voice seems nervous and a bit quiet, like the guy at the other end is covering his mouth while speaking. “Sorry for this sudden call, but I have a rather strange request.”

“Oh, alright. What is it?” Makoto doesn’t hesitate to offer his help, regardless of what it might be. He knows well enough that swimming is something relatively serious in this town, so they get calls with weird specifications all the time.

There is a pause on the other line, and Makoto can hear someone yelling in the background. He then hears a sigh before the voice speaks again, “My name is Marco Bodt and I have a friend who really, really needs help with swimming.”

Makoto smiles, “Then you’re calling the right place!” He holds his hand to the phone and asks for the receptionist to grab a registration form. Makoto shifts the phone to his other ear and uses his shoulder to prop it up. He holds the pen to the paper and asks, “What’s his name? Okay, and that’s K.i.r…o-okay, thank you. And what’s his age?”

There’s another pause.

“Hello? Did I lose you?”

“N-no, no, um _well_ , heeee’s…he’s 17.”

Makoto’s hand lifts from the page. That’s...the same age as...His expression falters ever so slightly as he says, “Oh, well, that’s…”

“Is that okay? I know your classes are geared towards younger kids, but I’m really, really on my last limb here…”

Makoto can hear the desperation in Marco’s voice. He knows how stressful it is. Heck, he lived it first hand with Rei. For all Makoto knows, this Marco fella might be trying to get a swim team together too. He can’t let a fellow swimmer brethren down!

With new found sympathy, Makoto straightens up and grips the phone tighter. “Of course it’s alright! I would be more than happy to teach John.”

“Jean.”

“Eh?”

“It’s pronounced _Jean_.”

“Oh, sorry.” Rude.

“Gah!! No, sorry! I-I’m just telling you this beforehand because he’s a real stickler about it. A-and I’m almost positive he’s not gonna be happy to begin with. He’s terrified of the water.”

Makoto’s heartstrings tugged tighter at those last words. He lets his tone go back to its friendly, soft way and says, “No problem. I’m up for the challenge. Let’s finish this registration form then, shall we?”

 

~~~~~

 

The bright colors and cute marine life painted on the walls mock Jean. They mock him with their beady black eyes and stupid—probably evil—smiles. As if going to a new pool wasn’t stressful enough, Marco had withheld any information about the place the entire drive there.

Sure, Jean was _absolutely_ against the idea of learning to swim. This was only because his entire summer has been a disaster because of his friends’ efforts. But, when Marco looks at him with those big pearls gleaming, full of hope and excitement, Jean can’t say no. Obviously, his weak spot for Marco only goes so far since they have yet to have a single successful day at a pool, lake, or even hot tub. Water up to his knees is fine, anything above that is getting too friendly for Jean’s tastes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Jean deadpans as he and Marco stand in the lobby. “This place is full of little trolls!”  As if to emphasize his aversion, two excited little kids come bounding in behind them. They brush past Jean and Marco, mutter soft apologies, and sprint up the stairs towards the observation area.

“Sorry about that,” a dull voice comes from behind. Jean and Marco turn and watch the dark haired boy with a stoic face walk by them without so much as a smile. He heads up the stairs after the little boy and girl.

“Well, he was a delight,” Jean snorts and Marco gives him an incredulous look. “What? He was a sour puss!”

Marco rolls his eyes and slaps Jean on the back. “Forget it! Let’s go,” he walks towards the front desk and Jean follows closely behind; sporting his own expressionless look (borderline pout, at least).

The woman is friendly and understanding, but that doesn’t stop her from glancing hesitantly over at Jean every so often. Jean has half the heart to flip her off, but Marco’s hand grabs his wrist before he can even flinch.

“You can leave your things in one of our free lockers over there. Mr. Tachibana’s class is just about to start, so you can join in when you’re finished.” She smiles and stands, gesturing towards the locker room. Marco thanks her, and nudges Jean to do the same. He does; however, his fake smile drops as soon as they turn the corner.

“I’m gonna throw up,” Jean mumbles as he places his gym bag on the center bench. The locker room is quiet, a bit dim, and sounds from the pool carry through the walls.

Marco places his own bag down and turns towards the lockers. He lifts the latch up; it’s a bit rusty but it opens gently all the same. “Jean, you’ll be fine. Makoto said I could come in with you, so I’ll be right there the whole time.”

“I can’t believe they hold adult swim classes in a place like this…” Jean says as he undresses. Marco lets out a nervous laugh and pulls on his swim trunks.

 

~~~~~

 

“I’ll _kill_ you,” Jean practically spits into Marco's ear. He grabs Marco’s arm and twists it behind his back. This results in a series of “ow’s” from the freckled boy. Though, he has to keep quiet since the swimming coach, Makoto, is talking. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m _sorry_ ,” Marco hoarsely whispers, “This was the only option left.”

Jean scoffs and narrows his eyes as he scans the other class participants. They are all little babies (ok, no, that’s an exaggeration. But in Jean’s eyes, anything—sorry, anyone smaller than him is a baby). This is beyond embarrassing for him, and not to mention how deceived he now feels. “You could’ve told me it was a class of two year olds!”

“Owww, Jean,” Marco hisses again when Jean twists his arm further, “If I told you that, you wouldn’t have come! And they aren’t two!”

Jean knows Marco has a point, and he also knows Marco is only putting him through this humiliation for his own good. He wants to swim, he really, honestly does. It’s his own dang fault that Marco is trying so hard. If he hadn’t told Marco just how badly he wanted to get over his fear, none of this would be happening. Well, it’s too late for those kinds of thoughts now…

“Alright class, today we’re going to start doing things a bit differently. We’ve got a new student here,” Makoto’s smile is unwavering as he gestures towards Jean. This causes the mop-headed boy to freeze up. “Jean, would you like to come up?”

Jean lets go of Marco arm, to which Marco lets out a small relieved whimper. Despite Jean’s embarrassment, he’s always been a rule follower in the face of authority. So, like the good student Marco hopes he will continue to be, he walks up to the front of the small group and turns towards them. Their little faces are curious; eyes glistening and attentions attentive. Jean feels his face heat up under everyone’s gaze.

“Uh, hi. I’m Jean and uh, I guess I’ll be learning with you dudes from now on,” he says, speaking with his gaze set at his feet.

Makoto’s smile twitches a bit at the impolite introduction, but he places a gentle hand on Jean’s back. “W-well then, class, let’s all treat Jean kindly and make him feel welcome.”

To this, the little buggers all shout a greeting and eagerly head towards the pool’s ladder. Jean can’t help but make a disgusted face when the sounds of their giggles and bare feet smacking against the cement echo into his ears.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Marco says while he walks towards Jean and Makoto. He holds out his hand, which Makoto firmly takes and replies with a smile. “I’m Marco, by the way.”

“It’s no problem at all, really. I just hope I can help.” Makoto lets go and turns towards Jean. With an even more gentle expression, he says softly, “Ready?”

Jean can’t help but blush deeper; his usually cold exterior caving under the warmth and pure angelic-ness of Makoto’s person.  The dude is probably a billion feet tall, but Jean has the strong suspicion he’s about as hardcore as Bertoldt. Regardless of the small sense of relief this Makoto guy gives him, Jean still mutters, “No.”

 

~~~~~

 

And no is right. The class is long since over by the time Marco can coax Jean back into the pool area. He had snuck away when Makoto was putting floaties on the younger students. But this was after the the point where Makoto tried to get Jean into the water, which resulted in Jean simply backing away with each advance of Makoto. The taller boy tried showing how easy it was by using the children as an example, but that helped very little. Jean simply puffed his chest and turned away.

Now, Makoto watches from the center of the pool with a worried expression as Marco pulls and yanks on Jean’s body, which is thoroughly plastered to the step ladder.

“Your butt hasn’t even touched the water!” Marco yells over the sloshing and splashing.

“And it’s gonna stay that way! No wet butt for me!” Jean’s kung fu grip on the metal rails is not going to budge one bit, so long as he’s alive.

Makoto starts to realize the severity of the situation, and his heart goes out to Marco. At least Rei would get in water he could stand in.

It’s well past the pick-up period for parents, so Makoto lifts a hesitant hand towards the bickering boys. “U-uh, Jean, Marco, you’ve wasted quite a bit of time. The pool is going to close soon…”

Marco makes an exaggerated noise and lets go of Jean, who immediately turns around and sits on the first stair and clamps his arms around the railings (just in case). “Jean, this was supposed to be good for you. Instead you waste all the time being a baby about it.”

“You can't rush these things, Marco!”

Makoto walks over to them and tries his best to ease their tension, “N-now, now. We all have to go at our own pace.”

“He’s had all fricken summer, Makoto! This is ridiculous!”

“Well,” Makoto turns towards Jean which causes Jean to start a bit. He didn’t expect such a serious expression from the gentle giant. “Are you really that afraid, Jean? Too afraid to try?”

Jean opens his mouth to say something bratty, but holds his tongue. Instead he makes a small choking noise. He closes his mouth again and looks down at his lap. His brows furrow and his fists loosen on the rails. “I...I’m not that afraid of water, I guess. I’m just...not really...I don’t _know_ , okay?” He looks up at Marco and Makoto, both have shocked expressions from Jean’s outburst.

Before either of them can stop him, Jean stands up and sprints out of the pool area and into the locker room. Marco lifts a hand and calls out to him, but it’s useless. He knows it is. Jean is probably not going to speak to him for a week after this fiasco.

He lets his hand fall down into the water with a splash, accompanied with his own defeated sigh. Marco feels a warm hand touch his shoulder. He turns and gives Makoto a sheepish smile.

“This was a bust, wasn’t it?” He says grimly.

Makoto purses his lips a moment and looks away towards the pool exit. He is thoughtful, pondering, and then after a bit he turns back towards Marco. “I don’t think so. At least he’s thinking about it now. That’s all we can hope for, I suppose.”

“Thanks, Makoto. I know this was a huge disaster. I hope Jean and I weren’t too much of a bother for you class.”

Makoto shakes his head and laughs. “No, no of course no. I think the kids actually liked seeing an older boy afraid of getting in the water. It gave them a confidence boost.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Jean that.”

“Ehh, better not.”

The two laughed at this, both agreeing that it’d definitely be a bad idea.

They stood there in the water a bit more before Marco felt a bit embarrassed. “W-well, I guess I’d better get going then.” But before he makes his way out of the pool, Makoto grabs his arm.

“You swim, right? You care about it? That’s why you want your friend to learn?”

Marco makes to say ‘no not really,’ but the sparkling look in Makoto’s eyes makes his soft heart melt even more. How could he say he didn’t care about swimming to a determined face like that?

“S-sure! Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s pretty great.”

Makoto’s eyes light up even more. “I knew it! I knew that was why!”

Just then, the two hear a couple of pounding footsteps into the pool area. Makoto looks up and smiles. “Haru! You brought them today too, huh?

Marco looks in the same direction and sees the “sour puss” from before.

“Friend of yours?” He asks with a smile.

Makoto simply smiles fondly, it’s soft and barely touches his eyes. Marco takes that as a yes.

“Class was...different today,” Haruka says blankly. Makoto chuckles and walks over to the edge of the pool. His younger siblings--as Marco guesses--bounce happily and talk a million miles per hour about how funny the guy with the weird hair was. Marco can’t help but smile at that as he walks over to join them. For some odd reason, he doesn’t feel like he’s imposing. It’s an odd sensation for him, since practically everyone he usually hangs out with is a couple and he’s always the 99898th wheel.

“Haru, this is Marco. He’s the one who called me about teaching Jean to swim.”

Haruka looks down at Marco with an expressionless face, studying him. Marco feels like he’s under a microscope with those piercing blue gems boring holes into him. After a few long, long, awkward seconds pass, Haruka finally speaks. “Your friend shouldn’t resist the water like that. It can sense fear. If you fear it, it wont treat you well.”

Marco’s jaw goes slack at this statement and looks towards Makoto for a translation. He offers no help because all he does is smile like he has been for these past few hours.

 

~~~~~

 

Marco, through no fault of his own, cannot get a hold of Jean. He is nowhere to be seen at the pool club, and he won’t answer his texts. Marco feels a wave of guilt rush over him, and he sighs. He stares down at his phone, hoping to a reply.

“He’ll come around,” that same dull voice says behind him. Marco almost jumps, but Haruka’s tone is so quiet it hardly is noteworthy. “I can tell he wants to trust the water. He just has to get over his own obstacle.”

Marco ponders Haruka for a moment, trying to decipher the odd way this dark haired boy speaks. “Th-thanks,” he eventually says, “I think Jean will get over the fear eventually...I hope. Gosh, I hope. But, Makoto tried so hard to coax him in earlier, and he just wouldn’t. So, then it turned into what it always does--me trying to pry his ass into the water.” Marco’s shoulders slump and he feels the weight of his failure begin to sink in.

“He just needs a stricter teacher. Makoto is…” Haruka looks over towards his friend speaking with the front receptionist--probably apologizing for staying open so late--who’s younger siblings are buzzing around his legs like kittens. “He’s soft. Passionate, but soft. What Jean needs is,” he pauses, searching for the word, “a sharper bite at the water.”

Marco quirks an eyebrow and tries hard not to roll his eyes. The guy is ridiculous. But before Marco can judge him silently even more, Makoto is walking towards them and pointing his thumb to the door. “Let’s head out.”

And they do; Marco following closely behind them, not really knowing when the appropriate time is to just kinda...peace out. When they all sort of stand in the parking lot, Marco figures it’s as good a time as any.

“W-well, thanks again for your hard work, Makoto. I’m...uh, I’m sorry Jean didn’t take to your teaching.”

Makoto smiles and shakes his head, “It’s understandable. I think there is something deeper to Jean’s anxiety of water than even he’s aware of.”

“Well then, I’ll see you sometime in the future then!” Marco turns to leave, but before he can, he feels someone grab his sleeve. Upon turning around, Marco is staring into those blue whirlpools again. “Y-yes?” Marco almost whispers.

Haruka’s eyes narrow in thought, staring Marco down.

Moments pass and Marco begins to fear that this is something that, like, normally happens with Haruka, and people should just let him do his thing...like a dog that starts to chew a bone and no one can really tell it to stop.

“He needs Rin,” Haruka says point blankly.

Marco raises his eyebrows and hears Makoto make a surprised noise.

“R-Rin?? What could he do?” Makoto asks, but then makes another noise...an almost gasp and then “O-ooohhhhh. I get it. Bringing in the big guns?”

Haruka nods curtly and looks back at Marco; who jolts at the sudden eye contact again.

“Rin?” Marco asks, his lip curling and his brows scrunching, “Who’s Rin?”

  
To be continued????? 


End file.
